The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and relevant links.

Moonrise and Lunar Corona

I was taking some pictures of the northern lights on this winter's night near my home in Quebec, Canada and I happened to notice this stunning lunar corona. Minute water droplets (or even ice crystals) in clouds may interfere with light rays and produce interference rings. The size of the rings depends not only on the wavelength of light but also on the size of the droplets - smaller droplets produce larger rings. With coronae, as opposed to halos, the rings of light appear very near the Moon or Sun.